About FoodMayhem

In the chaotic kitchen of a recipe developer, you get a food blog called FoodMayhem.

I'm Jessica, an Asian-American, born and raised in NYC, and that's Lon, my Jewish, white husband. While professionally trained as a French culinary- and pastry chef, many of FoodMayhem recipes are my attempt to preserve and share authentic Chinese and Taiwanese recipes learned from my mom. We don't eat Chinese food every day, so you'll get a little bit of anything we find delicious enough to share: from our Eastern European side; recipes and techniques learned from my restaurant days; restaurant reviews, food travel tips; and a few other juicy bits along the way. Welcome to FoodMayhem!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Once we hit fall, I start cravings soup. The refreshingly crisp air is not yet fierce and chilling so I’m not thinking hearty rich soups like lobster bisque or beef stew. I want the warmth of a hot liquid so I can cup my hands around the bowl, slurp in that soothing throat feel, and rejoice in watching the leaves turn. I need the soup to remain light since I’m not ready for the bulky layers yet. Fall is the perfect time for clear broths and consommes, and Daikon Soup hits that spot for me.

What’s even better is that when the urge hits, this soup can be prepared relatively quickly in the world of soups. Roughly 40 minutes will do and most of that is not active time, just waiting. It’s also a forgiving soup where exact measurements are not necessary. Just use the recipe as a guide once and you’ll probably never need to look at it again.

You’ll notice pork ribs in the recipe and what we usually use is the imperfect side pieces when you have a rack of ribs. We cut off the parts that don’t look like long ribs and save those pieces for making soup. You’ll also notice that I don’t show meat in the finished pictures and that’s because I tend not to eat the ribs (though you can, and my dad does). The ribs are used to flavor the soup for me and then I prefer to focus on the soup and daikon.

Daikon Soup~about 12 cups

8 pieces (2″ cubes) pork ribs

1 piece (thumb size) ginger, smashed

2 teaspoons fine sea salt + extra as needed

1 medium daikon, cut into pieces (roughly 2-bite size)

Instructions –

1. Place pork ribs, ginger, and 8 cups of water in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil.

2. Turn down to a simmer and skim scum off the top. Continue simmering covered for 20 minutes.

3. Add daikon and simmer for another 15 minutes or until the daikon is tender. (It depends on how young/old the daikon is.) Adjust seasoning if needed and serve.

Store left-overs in an airtight container in the fridge. Re-heat on the stove top or microwave.

posted by jessica at 09:22 AM
Filed under Chinese, Recipes.
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Wow, never heard of this, looks amazingly fresh and yummy. My husband and I LOVE to try new recipes. I think we are both most fond of the Asian persuasion food. I am a new reader and am adding you to my blog subscriptions. When is your baby due? I am excited to read through your archives :o)